Ryan Gallagher is a hunky American singer with an operatic voice who would have become The Voice champion just three years ago had he not been booted out due to an alleged Covid-19 health protocol violation (which he, his lawyer and his then-manager denied). 

Gallagher, 35, has been in the Philippines more than 50 times since 2013. He’s been visiting and singing around here way before he joined The Voice on NBC in the US. A back-up singer for Josh Groban and other pop superstars not only in their US concerts but also in other parts of the world, he spent his 20s traveling all over the world for such shows.

In 2013, Gallagher was invited by a Pinoy friend in the US to sing at his birthday party in Manila. The singer accepted — and ended up with 15 gigs in the country that year. He has been coming back and forth since then. For instance, in 2015, he acted in a musical directed by Bobby Garcia. 

Gallagher may still be here in the Philippines as you read this. After all, it’s this country that he has chosen as a venue to promote his single, “Feeling Christmas,” which will be a part of a 16-track album he will release in the US sometime next year. 

The couple Liza Dino and Ice Seguerra held a media huddle for him at Arromata Cafe in QC about a week ago.

Talking about his The Voice experience, Gallagher hinted at internal conflicts and competition among the show’s mentors-judges that led to his being driven out of the competition. 

The mentors-judges then were Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton and John Legend. Gallagher was in Clarkson’s team of mentees. 

Gallagher didn’t seem to have many singing engagements in the months after that debacle in The Voice. In December 2020, he posted that he was available for booking. In February 2021, he did an online Valentine concert with a viewing fee. By March 2021, he had stopped using social media accounts. He got back to them in early 2022, announcing that he would do a solo Valentine concert at the Music Museum in Greenhils, San Juan — with Martin Nievera as guest performer. 

Early injury

Gallagher had an injury in his early teens while playing hockey for his varsity team in his hometown. The injury was bad enough to push him into serious anxiety that he’d never be able to play hockey again. He asked God what he should next take up that he could turn into a career as an adult.

Gallagher said he clearly heard God tell him to be a singer, even if he had never dreamed of becoming one. The young Gallagher learned to play the guitar (and the piano, too) to accompany his singing. He recorded his performances and his dad sent the recordings to radio stations. 

His dad’s loving patience paid off. By the time he was 15, Gallagher had begun to sing in radio stations in Michigan. He later studied under voice teacher George Gibson. Gallagher eventually became a back-up singer for Josh Groban; he has also backed up for Lea Salonga, Michael Bolton and others. 

With his majestic singing and good looks, by the time he joined The Voice Gallagher had already earned the tag “the opera singer” even if he had never been part of an opera production. 

His dream

His “Feeling Christmas” single is part of his debut 16-track album that is not a Christmas album at all. It was recorded at East West Studio in LA where the likes of Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson also did records. Gallagher funded the album himself, first recorded in mid-2022.

“There’s so much drama surrounding the production, release and distribution of an album. I thought that with digital technology, it takes only a few weeks to put up an album after all the songs have been recorded, “ Gallagher recalled.

The single was released on Spotify and other video-sharing platforms in November. Gallagher then began guesting in TV shows here in the country, where he was asked to sing not only his Christmas number but also a Filipino song. Gallagher has mastered the Martin Nievera song “Sana.” He used to sing it in the
ABS -CBN show “I Love OPM” where he guested several times. 

The foreigner’s dream is to sing with Sarah Geronimo, our Pop Royalty. 

Meanwhile, NBC’s The Voice is still at it: Announcing from out of the blue that a contestant has quit the competition. 

During the 27 November edition of the show, coach Reba McEntire shocked viewers by announcing that her team would be one contestant short ahead of the playoff rounds.

Country singer Tom Nitti had chosen to depart the show, but no clear reason was given for his decision.